What is the story about?
Good
morning.
- The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday after a 9-19 start. Bench coach Don Mattingly takes over on an interim basis. Mattingly says he doesn’t have any interest in managing after this season.
- The Phillies had nothing but good things to say about Thomson on the way out.
- Mattingly only got the job after recently-fired Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned down the job. (Free The Athletic reg. req.) Matt Gelb, Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark have the details.
- Bob Nightengale spoke to Cora about the reasoning behind his decision, which basically comes down to Cora wants to take the rest of the summer off and spend time with his family.
- Nightengale also reports that Rob Thomson has no hard feelings about the firing.
- Matt Gelb has the story of the final days of Thomson’s tenure with the Phillies. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
- Michael Baumann writes that Thomson was the scapegoat for a poor start, but the real issues start with the Phillies roster construction. Of course, Baumann also notes that Thomson only got the job in the first place because Joe Girardi was the scapegoat for a bad start to the 2022 season.
- Speaking of that, Jayson Stark ask whether this firing is more like the Phillies managerial change in 2012 or 2022. (The Athletic sub. req.) Basically, is this a blip in a period of continued success or the start of a rebuild?
- Ken Rosenthal thinks it’s more like 2012 and that the Phillies have serious structural issues. (The Athletic sub. req.) He also warns Alex Cora that he might not want to take the job if it is offered to him again at the end of the season.
- Why was Thomson fired now and what’s wrong with the Phillies? A roundtable discussion.
- Back to Cora. Julian McWilliams explains why the Red Sox fired their manager.
- Red Sox team president Craig Breslow is trying to mend fences with several players upset over Cora’s firing.
- Kiri Oler offers another take on the “Saturday Night Massacre” of the Red Sox coaching staff. Oler writes that if the Red Sox don’t improve, Breslow may be the next one to be seen to the door.
- Jake Mintz asks what’s next for Boston?
- Mike Axisa answers whether the Phillies or Red Sox have a better chance of turning their season around.
- Is Mets manager Carlos Mendoza the next to get canned?
- Ian O’Connor notes that when the free-spending Steve Cohen bought the Mets, their fans had high hopes for a new glory era. So far, Cohen’s results have been disappointing and there doesn’t seem to be any plan to get better. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Anthony Castrovince and Sarah Langs show how the expanded playoffs means a bad April doesn’t necessarily kill all hope for a playoff bid anymore.
- Dan Szymborski examines whether the struggling Astros can turn their season around.
- Mark Feinsand has the teams that have been surprisingly good or disappointingly bad so far according to a poll of anonymous front office executives.
- Mike Axisa has some early takes on how this past winter’s free agents are doing with their new teams.
- Stephen J. Nesbitt and Sam Blum looks at the struggles of Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai and whether the Astros and the city of Houston are to blame for Imai’s struggles in adapting to the US. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
- Matt Snyder makes All-Star teams after one month of the regular season.
- David Schoenfield makes a first month All-Star team and which players are going in the other direction.
- One player trending up is Yankees first baseman Ben Rice. Mike Axisa looks at what adjustments Rice has made to become a premier power hitter this year.
- Jason Foster breaks down Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr.’s April and what it means for the rest of the season.
- The Guardians promoted Australian Travis Bazzana, the first pick of the 2024 Draft.
- Bazzana tals with Tim Stebbins about his journey from Sydney to Cleveland.
- Ben Weinrib has what to expect out of Bazzana. He was 0 for 2 with two walks in his debut last night.
- Sam Dykstra has some prospects who could join the Top 100 list soon.
- Ben Clemens explains that the strike zone is shrinking.
- Zach Meisel looks at which teams have benefitted and which teams are struggling with the ABS system.
- Jared Greenspan looks at the changes the Rockies have made to their approach to pitching that seems to be paying off so far.
- One thing the Rockies are doing is “suggesting” pitches from the dugout. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh says he doesn’t want anyone in the dugout telling him which pitch to call.
- I don’t think anyone wants to see this, but the Tigers’ Javier Báez suffered a scary injury last night after trying to slide into first base.
- Michael Baumann breaks down the breakout season of Athletics outfielder Carlos Cortes.
- Michael Clair shows how the international spirit of baseball was on display in Mexico City in the recently-completed Baseball Champions League. The Kane County Cougars won the tournament this year, by the way.
- And finally, to celebrate the 20th birthday of Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin, Paul Skenes rented a bounce house for the clubhouse.
